


As the Smoke Billows

by randi2204



Series: Steampunk!Seven [23]
Category: The Magnificent Seven (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Steampunk, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-16
Updated: 2017-01-16
Packaged: 2018-09-18 00:39:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9355343
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/randi2204/pseuds/randi2204
Summary: If there was a sight that had become commonplace around town the past few months, it was this one: JD and Josiah on the steps to the church, covered head to toe with soot and coughing like hell, while smoke billowed out the windows.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Deannie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Deannie/gifts).



> **Disclaimer:** These boys belong to MGM, Mirisch, and Trilogy. I just like pretending I know anything about steampunk. :-)

If there was a sight that had become commonplace around town the past few months, it was this one: JD and Josiah on the steps to the church, covered head to toe with soot and coughing like hell, while smoke billowed out the windows.

 

Even though it was something he saw frequently, Vin still approached the church warily.  _Ya never know what might happen,_ he told himself, and made his steps as light and cautious as he could, like he was sneaking up on something that could kill him if it knew he was there.  _Hell,_ he thought, _reckon that’s as true as anything._

 

He stopped a few feet away.  Josiah sat leaning against the rail of the steps, eyes closed.  His goggles dangled around his neck, and his face was black with ash except for two circles around his eyes where the goggles would have rested.  He still shook with occasional coughs, but the worst of it seemed to have subsided, and he didn’t look like he’d gotten burnt this time.

 

JD wasn’t in any better shape, at least from the back; he stood on the steps, staring up at the church door, hands on his hips.  His shirt wasn’t white anymore; Vin had the feeling that if the kid took that shirt to the laundry, Missus Morgan would either start crying or try to strangle him with it.

 

Even as Vin watched, the kid was wracked by another coughing fit, but when he recovered, he put his hands back on his hips, glaring up at the smoke drifting through the doorway like it had offended him personally.  Then, he sighed, coughed again, and slumped against the rail on the other side of the stairs, scrubbing a hand over his face, wincing a little as he did.

 

As JD pulled his hand away from his face, Vin noticed that the kid’s eyebrows had been singed clean away, and that his face was red and splotchy, like he’d had a bad sunburn.

 

“Didn’t seem like it should have worked,” JD said, glancing up at the smoke again.

 

“Nope,” Josiah replied, his mild tone at odds with his smoke-roughened voice.  “Probably why it didn’t.”

 

Vin tucked his thumbs through his gun belt. “Didn’t hear anythin’ go boom,” he offered.

 

Josiah opened his eyes – revealing they were quite red – and nodded.  JD twitched, nearly losing his balance on the stair as he spun around.  “Hey, Vin.  Naw, there wasn’t any explosion this time.”

 

He watched the smoke coming out the church windows, though it was significantly less now than it had been when he’d started to amble over.  “Nothin’ caught fire?”

 

“Nothing that can’t be contained,” Josiah replied, closing his eyes again.  “It’ll burn itself out in a little while.”

 

Vin nodded.  If the situation had been more serious – say, on par with the day Josiah had managed to blow up his workshop outside of town – JD would have been running around like a chicken with its head cut off, and Josiah would have been doing just about anything other than sitting on the steps.  So at least in this case, he could trust that whatever it was that was burning, it wasn’t a danger to the town.  He made a show of looking around, as if gauging which way the smoke was heading, and, as expected, saw Miz Travis outside the door to the Clarion, pencil and paper in hand.  He shook his head slightly, and watched her shoulders slump.  The expression on her face was hard to read – was she relieved or disappointed?

 

He didn’t bother to ask what they’d been working on that _hadn’t seemed like it would work_ , because that way lay a half an hour lost to an explanation that he’d only half-understand and a headache from the sheer weight of enthusiasm JD and Josiah could each bring to bear on the topic.  _Well,_ he thought, rocking back on his heels, _reckon they won’t try it again if it turns out like this._

 

“Y’know, Josiah,” JD said thoughtfully, staring up at the smoke.  “If we recalibrated the air flow rate to the fuel…”

 

_Shit,_ Vin thought, and beat a hasty retreat before Josiah spoke.  _Shoulda known better than to tempt fate._   He headed for the saloon to try and pull Chris away from the plans for the Iron Horse Mark IX.

 

Apparently there was still the opportunity for an explosion today. 

 

***

December 29, 2016

**Author's Note:**

> A fill for Deannie's prompt on [fic_promptly](http://fic-promptly.dreamwidth.org/): [Magnificent Seven, Steampunk AU or OW, any, "Didn't seem like it should work." "Nope. Probably why it didn't."](http://fic-promptly.dreamwidth.org/464647.html?thread=14314503#cmt14314503)


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